"It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under." -- Grandmaster Flash

Monday, February 02, 2009

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

Imagine that you’ve fallen head over heels for someone, someone who is beautiful, charming and a bit eccentric. This is someone that your immediate circle would never have picked for you. In fact, your friends and family are less than lukewarm about this partner. They shun your Thursday night dates and mock your anticipation for this certain someone. On several occasions, they make subtle jabs that imply the same message: “You can do better.”

Eventually, things change. Your friends/family realize that they’ve misjudged this special someone. Now, they constantly talk about how wonderful this special someone is, and they even join in on your Thursday night dates. But, things have changed for you. You don’t feel the same way about Special Someone as you once did. In fact, you’ve told a few people that you’ve considered calling it quits. Yet mere talk of a break up sets your friends/family into a tizzy. “How can you do this to us?” “We’ve grown to love Special Someone, now you’re going to jump ship?” “If you don’t love Special Someone, then you don’t love me.”

Folks, I am talking about Grey’s Anatomy.

In the beginning, I was one of the few people in my crew who watched. No one else took an interest in it, thought it was kind of pointless to have yet another medical program on the airwaves. Then my mother became obsessed with it, so did a close friend. Each Friday, our conversations would revolve around the previous night’s Grey’s Anatomy. We loved George. We hated George. We loved Izzie. We hated Izzie. We loved McDreamy. We dropped McDreamy for McSteamy. We loved Denny. We hated Denny’s ghost. We continue to hate Denny’s ghost.

But I have reached the point where I can collectively say: I don’t care anymore. This has truly been the worst possible season for Grey’s. Last year, it started out bad, but got better in the end. This season, I wait, I wait and I wait, but the show has not moved me. In fact, I continuously yell the following phrase at the television: “DIE, IZZIE! DIE!”

Dropping Grey’s would require some shifting on my part. I’m from the old school tradition of excellent Thursday night viewing. From the Cosby Show Days to New York Undercover, I’m used to having a good Thursday TV experience. I do like ‘Ugly Betty’, which comes on before Grey’s, and ‘Private Practice’, which comes on after. So I guess I’ll have to find something productive to do 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday nights. Hmmm ….

At some point, I’ll have to let folks know that Grey’s and I have broken up. I’m not sure who will take it harder, Mom or Dee. But I think they’ll survive.